Supporting shaft assembly for roll supporting arms



Jan. 10, 1967 H. HASKIN, JR 3,297,271

SUPPORTING SHAFT ASSEMBLY FOR ROLL SUPPORTING ARMS Filed April 8, 1965 LAWRENCE H. HASK|N JR.

ATTORNEYS United States Fatent Ofilice 3,297,271 Patented Jan. 10, 1967 3,297,271 SUPPORTING SHAFT ASSEMBLY FOR ROLL SUPPORTING ARMS Lawrence H. Haskin, Jr., Richmond, Va., assignor to The Inta-Roto Machine Company, Inc., Richmond, Va., a

corporation of Virginia Filed Apr. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 446,500 11 Claims. (Cl. 242-58) The present invention relates to roll support arm assemlies such as for turnover roll stands, and more particularly relates to novel improvements in the construction and assembly of the supporting shaft and the roll carrying arms.

Roll stands, of the type to which this invention relates, are employed for supporting large and heavy rolls of web material as the material is unwound and fed into a machine for operation thereon or as the material is wound after such operation. Generally, such stands comprise a 'main supporting shaft which has its ends rotatably journaled in a pair of spaced uprights or standards. At least one pair of companion arms are fixed on the shaft in parallel. spaced relation, and provided at their free ends with means for cooperatively supporting for rotation a roll of web material.

The arms rotatably support a roll at each end with the rolls being transversely mounted between the ends of the arms and disposed parallel to the axis of the supporting shaft. Usually, the arrangement is such that one roll is positioned for use in association with an operating machine and onto or from which web material is wound or unwound while another roll, at the other ends of the arms, is being removed from or mounted onto the arms. The arms are rotated through a desired angle by the supporting shaft to reverse the positions of the ends of the arms and rolls supported therebetween relative to the operating machine.

For the latter purpose, the main supporting shaft is operatively connected to be driven and braked. Conventionally, it is driven by a drive means connected only to one end of the shaft, and is braked by brake means connected only to the other end of the shaft. It is essential that the roll supporting arms be maintained in absolute parallel relation in order to properly and accurately receive or dispense a web relative to an associated machine. Otherwise, the web will be fed to the machine out of alignment or will wind the web in an uneven roll. Thus, the arms must support such roll securely and accurately for rotatable movement.

However, due to the disposition of the drive arrangement for the main supporting shaft at one end of the shaft and the brake means at the other, the shaft is subject to torsional twist. When this occurs, the companion roll supporting arms are quite likely to be caused to become distorted and assume relative angular positions in which they are not in the necessary parallel relation in which they are disposed when initially fixed to the supporting shaft. Consequently, the roll is oriented angularly so that its feed or take-up is out of alignment.

It is the primary object of the present invention to obviate the defect of the eventual nonparallelism of roll supporting arms of a roll stand or other web handling roll by mounting the arms on a novelly constructed main supporting shaft assembly which prevents any torsional action of the shaft from being transmitted to or having any effect on the arms and their relative positioning.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a novel main supporting shaft assembly on which the roll supporting arms are fixed whereby the arms are maintained constantly in fixed angular relation with one portion only of the shaft assembly, and are unaffected by torsional disturbances that may occur within the overall length of the shaft assembly.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide an effective, simple and compact main supporting shaft assembly which is economical to manufacture and durable in operation and which ensures that the companion roll supporting arms are maintained constantly in proper and essential parallel relation.

Briefly, according to the present invention, torsional deviation of roll supporting arms is overcome by mounting the arms in parallel relation on sleeve members which are circumposed on the end portions of a shaft and which are connected to a short central portion of the shaft, so that the sleeve members and arms are unaffected by torsional twisting of the end portions of the shaft.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of a specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures and in which:

FIG, 1 is a side view in elevation of a roll stand embodying the principles of the present invention, and

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary side view in elevation, partly in section, of the main supporting shaft assembly which constitutes the essence of the present in-. vention.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawing, and initially to FIG. 1, a typical turnover roll stand comprises a pair of companion, spaced apart and parallel arms 10 centrally mounted on a main shaft supporting assembly 14 that is rotatably journaled in uprights or standards 16 and 18. To rotatably support the cores C of the rolls R, the arms are provided at each end with cooperating chuck means 20 whose axes are in alignment and are parallel with the axis of the supporting shaft assembly 14.

The apparatus shown is adapted for a turnover roll stand of known type for handling web material for any purpose. It has a motor 30 mounted on the standard 16, and is connected by drive transmission means 32 and a gear reduction unit 34 to one end of the shaft assembly 14 for driving said shaft assembly 14 to effect the turnover maneuver of the arms 10 when operations are transferred from one roll to another roll. Usually, brake means (not shown) are carried by the other standard 18 and connected to the other end of the shaft assembly 14.

The difficulty that arises with such more or less conventional apparatus is that the pair of roll supporting arms 10 are inclined to become displaced from their essential parallel positions because of torsional effects transmitted from the supporting shaft assembly 14 due to the driving or braking of the shaft at one end only. In such conventional apparatus, the supporting shaft assembly is constituted by a single, solid shaft to which the arms are rigidly fixed. Due to the fact that the rolls R may weigh several tons, such shaft is susceptible to torsional deviation' unless its mass is so great that it is impractical and commercially unfeasible.

The present invention is specifically intended to obviate the foregoing difficulty, and is directed to the construction of the main supporting shaft assembly 14. As shown in FIG. 2, the supporting shaft assembly 14 includes a single elongated shaft 36 including a short central portion 38 and coaxial end portions 40 which may be of reduced diameter, the latter being of equal extension from the central portion and being substantially longer than the central portion. The end portions 40 are integral with the central portion 38 and, at their juncture with the central portion, preferably define annular shoulders 44. The inner terminal portions of the end portions 40 preferably are provided with annular shoulders 46, disposed outwardly from and stepped in from the shoulders 44.

Tubular sleeve members 48 of an internal diameter slightly greater than the external diameters of the end portions 40 are circumposed on the end portions by being sleeved thereon from the outer terminals of the end portions. The sleeve members 48 preferably are of an external diameter substantially equal to the external diameter of the centrol portion 38 of the shaft and have inner ends 52 which abut the shoulders 44 and are fixed thereto by welds 54. The sleeve members are formed with internal annular shoulders 56, slightly outwardly from their inner ends 52, which abut the shoulders 46.

The interiors of the outer ends of the sleeve members 48 are enlarged to receive end bearings 64 and to define internal annular shoulders 66 for locating said bearings 64. The roll supporting arms have hub portions 58 which are fixedly circumposed on the respective sleeve members 48. Rings 60 are disposed on the sleeve members and secured thereto by Welds 62, and bear against the inner faces of the hub portions 58.

Thus, the sleeve members 48 and the roll supporting arms 10 mounted thereon are in fixed angular relation With the central portion 38 only of the shaft and are not affected by torsional variations of the shaft end portions 40 Within the sleeve members. The bearings 64 preclude frictional transmission of torsion from the shaft end portions 40 to the sleeve members 48. As a consequence, the roll supporting arms 10 are constantly maintained in parallel relation and are not subjected to torque deviation so that the arms 10 can properly and effectively support a roll for rotation therebetween.

While the best known embodiment of this invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawing and described herein as pertaining to a turnover roll stand, it is to be understood that the invention is applicable to supporting arms for all types of rolls, drums or the like wherein such arms may be subject to torsional deviation.

Although a certain specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is obvious that many modifications thereof are possible. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except insofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of the appended claims.

' What is claimed is:

1. A roll supporting assembly comprising a shaft, a pair of sleeve members circumposed on said shaft with their inner ends adjacent the central portion of said shaft and their outer ends spaced therefrom, a pair of arms respectively fixed on the outer end portions of said sleeve members and disposed in spaced parallel relation to receive therebetween and rotatably support a roll, and means securing the inner ends only of said sleeve members to the central portion only of the shaft, whereby torsion within the shaft between said arms is not transmitted to said arms.

2. A roll supporting assembly comprising a pair of arms disposed in spaced parallel relation to receive therebetween and rotatably support a roll, a single elongated shaft having a short central portion and relatively longer reduced end portions, a pair of sleeve members circumposed on the end portions with their inner ends abutting said shaft central portion and respectively having said arms fixed thereon, and means securing the sleeve members to the central portion only of the shaft.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein an external shoulder is defined at the junction of the central portion and end portions of the shaft and against which the inner ends of the sleeve members abut, said means. for securing the sleeve members to the central portion being located at the point of such abutment.

4. An assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein an external shoulder is defined at the junction of the central portion and end portions of the shaft and against which the inner ends of the sleeve members abut, said means for securing the sleeve members to the central portion being located at the point of such abutment and consisting of welds.

5. An assembly as claimed in claim 3 wherein said sleeve members are of an external diameter substantially equal to the external diameter of the central portion of the shaft, and are of an internal diameter slightly greater than the external diameters of the end portions of the shaft.

6. An assembly as claimed in claim 3 wherein said end portions of the shaft are formed with annular shoulders inwardly of their inner ends, and said sleeve members are provided with mating internal annular shoulders inwardly of their inner ends.

7. An assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein said shaft end portions are each provided with an annular shoulder at their juncture with said shaft central portion, said sleeve members having internal diameters greater than the diameters of said shaft end portions and with their inner ends respectively fitted on said annular shoulders, and bearings on said shaft end portions and supporting the outer ends of said sleeve members.

8. In a turnover supply roll stand which includes a pair of spaced uprights, a supporting shaft assembly rotatably journaled in the uprights and a pair of spaced, parallel companion roll supporting arms carried by the shaft assembly; the improvement in the supporting shaft assembly which comprises a single shaft having a central portion and coaxially extending end portions, sleeve members circumposed on the end portions and extending from said central portion to points adjacent said uprights, said arms being mounted on the outer end portions of said sleeve members, and means securing the inner ends only of the sleeve members to the central portion only of the shaft, whereby torsion within the shaft between said arms is not transmitted to said arms.

9. The combination of claim 8 wherein said end portions of the shaft are coaxially reduced from the central portion and define an annular shoulder at their juncture with the central portion with the sleeve members having inner ends abutting the shoulders and said securing means being located at such points of abutment.

10. The combination of claim 9 whereinsaid securing means includes welds.

11. The combination of claim 9 wherein said sleeve members are of an external diameter substantially equal to the external diameter of the central portion of the shaft and of an internal diameter slightly greater than the external diameters of the end portions of the shaft.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,668,676 2/1954 McWhorter 24258 3,022,022 2/ 1962 Freeman 242-58 STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primaly Examiner.

LEONARD D. CHRISTIAN, Examiner. 

1. A ROLL SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A SHAFT, A PAIR OF SLEEVE MEMBERS CIRCUMPOSED ON SAID SHAFT WITH THEIR INNER ENDS ADJACENT THE CENTRAL PORTION OF SAID SHAFT AND THEIR OUTER ENDS SPACED THEREFROM, A PAIR OF ARMS RESPECTIVELY FIXED ON THE OUTER END PORTIONS OF SAID SLEEVE MEMBERS AND DISPOSED IN SPACED PARALLEL RELATION TO RECEIVE THEREBETWEEN AND ROTATABLY SUPPORT A ROLL, AND MEANS SECURING THE INNER ENDS ONLY OF SAID SLEEVE MEMBERS TO THE CENTRAL PORTION ONLY OF THE SHAFT, WHEREBY TORSION WITHIN THE SHAFT BETWEEN SAID ARMS IS NOT TRANSMITTED TO SAID ARMS. 